1000 t-shirts made from ECONYL® regenerated nylon and a significantly smaller CO2 footprint during production.
Mammut aims to reduce the carbon footprint of their outdoor textile production process. As a signee of the UN Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action, we are committed to a 30% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2030. By 2050, we want to produce carbon neutral. Proportionally, the production of climbing ropes causes the highest CO2 emissions, in 2018 it accounted for almost 14 percent of our CO2 footprint.
«Close The Loop»
A climbing rope is used for about five years and then thrown away. With this in mind, the idea for the «Close the Loop» project was born: The goal was clear – to find out how the polyamide that makes up the ropes could be reused again and again.
On June 9, 2020, we began collecting used ropes. Climbers in Switzerland had the option to donate their used ropes at nine collection points including: climbing halls and Mammut stores, as well as the option to use a free shipping service. «Close the Loop» was extremely well received by the climbing community. What began as nine collection points at the start of the project, grew to a total of 50.
In three months, we collected 748 kilograms of rope. They were then delivered to Aquafil, a company which produces man-made fibers and is specialized in sustainable production models. Aquafil developed a system to convert nylon waste, from items such as ropes, fishing nets and fabric scraps into ECONYL® regenerated nylon.
Through a chemical process, the nylon contained in waste such as the ropes is processed into ECONYL® recycled nylon. This has identical properties as nylon yarn made from fossil fuels.
Mammut designers developed a T-shirt made of 100 percent regenerated ECONYL® nylon. During the whole production we were able to save 67 percent of CO2 emissions per T-Shirt, compared to the traditional production with raw materials from oil.